my crazy life… or mind.. whichever it actually is

Monthly Archives: August 2015

Here is something I have been searching for for awhile. I have been meaning to share it,but was unable to locate it until today. For a writing class I took we were given different pictures of cows that used to be throughout Portland, Or. Here is the cow I received and the story I wrote. Hope you enjoy.

Joseph Loy

WR 090

11/14/08

Leslie Ormandy

Mars Mission Gone Amiss

I began with the normal life as any cow should. I was born on a farm in the Ohio valley, a region with the most beautiful natural landscaping anywhere in the world. The Ohio valley sits at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, near the border of Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Nestled in this glorious valley, rich with natural resources, was the farm on which I was born. My father, not unlike many others worked for many years in one of the numerous coal mines located throughout the valley. My mother had one of the most difficult jobs any jersey cow could have; she remained home to care for all of her calves. I grew up as an average jersey cow. Although I had my fair share of turmoil, usually caused by my own choices, I seemed to turn out better than most of the other calves in my herd. Some might say I turned out worse, but I say that there are some sacrifices worth making when they are for a cause greater than one’s self. Choices and circumstances can help us to become better people and also shape our personality.

The first decision I made that started to transform my personality and my physical transformation was when I decided to take the first opportunity to get out of that small Podunk town that came along. That opportunity was when the recruiters came into my high school and offered a whole day out of our classes to take their placement test. I gladly took their test, and I did it rather quickly to get out of school as soon as possible. Sure enough, a few days later, the recruiters were calling and bothering me all the time. They wanted me because, as it turned out, I placed quite well on their test. I took the offer to become the first member of my herd to join the Air Force. Their offer was to become a test pilot, with a nice enlistment bonus, was almost impossible to resist.

After serving this great land of ours, I was offered a job at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I started off in the lower tiers of pilots for NASA. I worked tirelessly and quickly moved through the ranks. I soon had my own squad underneath me. I had quickly become the first member of my herd to leave our native farm, let alone leave our world.

I was selected as mission commander of the first mission to Mars. We had numerous training exercises, and we were placed on a regimented diet before the big mission came upon us. Being mission commander was a daunting task for me, but I was looking forward to the opportunity of a lifetime.

Mission day was quickly upon us. The fanfare and parades filled with; jubilation, streamers, and fireworks, had been done and cleaned up. All the build up and excitement had come to culmination. We went through the usual pre-launch procedures with nothing out of the norm. Mission control then counted us down. As they reached zero, I flipped the bright red switch to fire the launch rockets. We gained speed quickly and were soon burning through the second stage of our launch rockets. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we had passed through the Earth’s atmosphere and officially completed launch sequence.

We then performed the sling-shot maneuver, quickly sending our spacecraft around the moon. We then set course for Mars. Nothing seemed abnormal until we had reached our destination, Mars. We set into orbital rotation around the red planet, and we began our checks that had to be done before setting foot on the mysterious planet. Once we had completed the necessary checks, we stepped into our Mars landing craft. We had named our Mars landing craft MATT (Mars All Terrain Truck). We had to leave one person in the main shuttle for communication and guidance purposes. Although it was nothing like a truck, MATT was the best name we all could actually agree on. We worked together as a brilliant team to be the first cattle to set hoof on Mars. We began our tests of the soil and air. That is when it all went wrong.

Behind us we could faintly hear a squeaking sound, and we struggled to figure out what it was. We could see what looked to be a group of four humans approaching us. Most humans do not consider us cows to be an intelligent species, but we did force them off of Earth decades ago. They came at us with branding irons; trying to scar us as part of their herd that would soon be slaughtered. We fought with all our might. In the struggle, my co-astronaut, John’s gravitational force director was damaged. Susan, the other astronaut on the surface with us, and I tried everything we could think of to save our co-worker and dear friend John. The forces were too great for anything to overcome and John’s body could not withstand the rigors it was undergoing. He passed swiftly and the humans quickly tied his carcass to their horses. As the humans were occupied trying to get the beef from John’s body, Susan and I escaped to the ship. We quickly took off from Mars. We had a memorial ceremony for John on our journey back to Earth. It was then I realized something was wrong with me, because my body felt weird and tingly. I had a hard time walking and standing. The longer I stood, the more my feet and legs hurt. I always feel cold, especially in my legs. I had to struggle with something I had never struggled with before, running. I used to be able to run faster than almost anyone, now I had a hard time doing it in the required amount of time.

It took a long time, and a lot of different tests to finally figure out there what exactly wrong with me. My body had become separated and distorted, due to my gravitational director and life support systems also being damaged in the struggle with the humans. They finally made it to where I no longer had to run, but I also could no longer get promotions. The doctors call it complex regional disorder, and it will only become worse with time. The distortions will continue to get more and more severe.

After a lot of thought, I turned in my resignation to NASA. I now struggle with the never-ending pain and different mental effects that I occurred on that mission to Mars. I have to do physical therapy almost everyday. Although now I deal with John’s death both mentally and physically everyday, I know deep in my heart it was worth it. You see sometimes it is worth sacrificing part of yourself for someone else. It was worth it for the mission. It was worth it for John.